Background. miR-192, miR-194, and miR-215 are enriched in the kidney and play roles in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can be detected in body fluids and may serve as disease biomarkers. Methods. Eighty type 2 diabetes patients with normoalbuminuria (n = 30), microalbuminuria (n = 30), or macroalbuminuria (n = 20), as well as 10 healthy controls, were enrolled in this study. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate urinary EV miRNAs expression. Results. The miR-192 levels were significantly higher than the miR-194 and miR-215 levels in urine EVs and all three miRNAs were significantly increased in the microalbuminuric group compared with the normoalbuminuric and control subjects but were decreased in the macroalbuminuric group. In patients with normoalbuminuria and microalbuminuria, miR-192 was positively correlated with albuminuria (r = 0.357, P = 0.005) levels and transforming growth factor- (TGF-) β1 (r = 0.356, P = 0.005) expression. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that miR-192 was better than miR-194 and miR-215 in discriminating the normoalbuminuric group from the microalbuminuric group. Exposure of human renal tubular epithelial cells to high glucose increased the expression of both miRNAs in cellular supernatant EVs, indicating a potential source. Conclusion. These results suggest the potential use of urinary EV miR-192 as a biomarker of the early stage of DN.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in the development of diabetic nephropathy. Here, we compared the protective efficacies of miR-26a and miR-30c in renal tubular epithelial cells (NRK-52E) and determined whether they demonstrated additive effects in the attenuation of renal fibrosis. TGFβ1 suppressed miR-26a and miR-30c expression but up-regulated pro-fibrotic markers in NRK-52E cells, and these changes were also found in the kidney cortex of 40-week-old diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats. Bioinformatic analyses and luciferase assays further demonstrated that both miR-26a and miR-30c targeted connective tissue growth factor (CTGF); additionally, Snail family zinc finger 1 (Snail1), a potent epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inducer, was targeted by miR-30c. Overexpression of miR-26a and miR-30c coordinately decreased CTGF protein levels and subsequently ameliorated TGFβ1-induced EMT in NRK-52E cells. Co-silencing of miR-26a and miR-30c exhibited the opposite effect. Moreover, miR-26a and miR-30c co-silenced CTGF to decrease ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK activation. Furthermore, miR-26a was up-regulated in urinary extracellular vesicles of diabetic nephropathy patients. Our study provides evidence for the cooperative roles of miR-26a and miR-30c in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy, and the co-targeting of miR-26a and miR-30c could provide a new direction for diabetic nephropathy treatment.

Diabetic foot infections (DFIs) represent a frequent complication of diabetes and a major cause of amputations. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of 16S rRNA gene sequencing for the rapid microbiological diagnosis of DFIs and to consistently characterize the microbiome of chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and intact skin. Wound samples were collected by ulcer swabbing and tissue biopsy, and paired swabs of intact skin were collected from 10 patients with DFIs (five were moderately infected, and the other five were severely infected). Samples were analyzed by conventional culture and using Personal Genome Machine (PGM) 16S rRNA sequencing technology. The results showed that PGM technology detected significantly more bacterial genera (66.1 vs. 1.5 per wound sample, p < 0.001); more obligate anaerobes (52.5 vs. 0%, p < 0.001) and more polymicrobial infections (100.0 vs. 55.0%, p < 0.01) than conventional cultures. There was no statistically significant difference in bacterial richness, diversity or composition between the wound swabs and tissues (p > 0.05). The bacterial community on intact skin was significantly more diverse than that in DFUs (Chao1 value, p < 0.05; Shannon index value, p < 0.001). Gram-positive bacteria (67.6%) and aerobes (59.2%) were predominant in contralateral intact skin, while Gram-negative bacteria (63.3%) and obligate anaerobes (50.6%) were the most ubiquitous in DFUs. The most differentially abundant taxon in skin was Bacillales, while Bacteroidia was the bacterial taxon most representative of DFUs. Moreover, Fusobacterium (ρ = 0.80, p < 0.01) and Proteus (ρ = 0.78, p < 0.01) were significantly correlated with the duration of DFIs. In conclusion, PGM 16S rRNA sequencing technology could be a potentially useful technique for the rapid microbiological diagnosis of DFIs. Wound swabbing may be sufficient for sampling bacterial pathogens in DFIs compared with biopsy which is an invasive technique. The empirical use of broad-spectrum antibiotics covering Gram-negative obligate anaerobes should be considered for the treatment of moderate or severe DFIs.